{"id":4130,"date":"2025-07-12T11:35:05","date_gmt":"2025-07-12T11:35:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/4130\/"},"modified":"2025-07-12T11:35:05","modified_gmt":"2025-07-12T11:35:05","slug":"detection-of-fire-ants-in-queensland-800km-from-closest-infestation-sparks-fury-over-gaps-in-eradication-funding-invasive-species","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/4130\/","title":{"rendered":"Detection of fire ants in Queensland 800km from closest infestation sparks fury over gaps in eradication funding | Invasive species"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fire ants<\/a> have been detected in central Queensland for the first time in history after a major outbreak at a BHP Broadmeadow coalmine.<\/p>\n

The discovery has prompted fury among the Invasive Species Council, who have questioned how the invasive pest had travelled almost 800km from the closest known infestation zone.<\/p>\n

The National Fire Ant Eradication Program on Friday urged businesses and industry to stay alert for fire ants after nests were discovered at Moranbah, a coalmining town about 150km inland from Mackay.<\/p>\n

They said program eradication officers first visited the BHP mine on 9 July, and the nests were destroyed using direct injection.<\/p>\n

Map showing location of fire ants discovery at BHP coal mine in Queensland.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe program \u2026 will conduct eradication activities across the impacted area \u2013 including intensive surveillance and broadscale treatment \u2013 to ensure any present fire ants are eradicated,\u201d they said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cGenetic analysis and tracing activities are being conducted to help determine how the ants reached Moranbah.<\/p>\n

\u201cDetections outside the south east Queensland<\/a> eradication zone are serious and highlight the risk posed by movement of materials that can carry fire ants.\u201d<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for BHP said keeping the community safe was the company\u2019s \u201ctop priority\u201d and it was \u201cworking closely\u201d with the National Fire Ant Eradication Program to support the \u201crapid containment, treatment, and eradication of this fire ant detection\u201d.<\/p>\n

Red imported fire ants are one of the world\u2019s worst invasive species, considered a pest due to their painful stings<\/a> and potential to cause severe ecological, agricultural and economic damage.<\/p>\n

Twenty-three people in Queensland were hospitalised with serious fire ant stings<\/a> amid a surge in reports in the aftermath of Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred.<\/p>\n

They were first detected in Australia in Queensland in 2001 and have since been found in parts of New South Wales and Western Australia. They are a category 1 restricted matter under the National Environmental Biosecurity Response Agreement.<\/p>\n

The Invasive Species Council said the breach outside existing biosecurity zones, which are spread throughout Queensland<\/a>, was unacceptable and pointed to the need for additional funding.<\/p>\n

Its advocacy director, Reece Pianta, said he was \u201cincredibly angry\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the last week, we\u2019ve had another detection in New South Wales, an interception in Western Australia and now the first outbreak in Central Queensland,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThis is not bad luck, it\u2019s a spectacular failure because of known gaps in funding, enforcement and surveillance.<\/p>\n

\u201cAustralia\u2019s last chance to eradicate deadly fire ants is being destroyed because Australia\u2019s governments are dithering and delaying critical funding increases.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pianta pointed to a recent Senate inquiry into red imported fire ants which found the government program tasked with their elimination was an \u201cabsolute shambles\u201d<\/a> and that an independent eradication body was urgently needed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have warned for two years that there is a major gap in funding<\/a> for suppression, with nest densities off the charts south of Brisbane,\u201d Pianta said.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow we\u2019re seeing the consequences play out \u2013 fire ants are slipping through the cracks and turning up in places they\u2019ve never been before.\u201d<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the federal government said the Queensland government-led National Fire Ant Eradication Program aimed to eradicate red imported fire ants from south east Queensland by 2032 and continued to respond quickly to new detections outside the containment zone.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur government is contributing a record investment of just under $300m for the program, representing around 50% of the total national cost-shared budget,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is nearly four times more investment than was the case at the end of 2021-22.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fire ants have been detected in central Queensland for the first time in history after a major outbreak…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4131,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[192,79],"class_list":["post-4130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4130","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4130"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4130\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}